IN THE NAME OF ALMIGHTY GOD MOST CLEMENT, MOST MERCIFUL

Mr. Chairman,

It 's my pleasure, at the outset, to warmly congratulate you as well as the whole members of the Bureau for your election to chair this Conference. I commend the efforts that the Secretary General, his special Representative and the UN have spent and the reports and contributions submitted for the preparation of this Conference to ensure its success.

I ought also to extend my thanks and gratitude, through you, to the Danish People & Government for their hospitality and kind reception.

Mr. Chairman,

My country has supported the convening of the World Social Development Conference and requested its good preparation so as to present the international community with a suitable opportunity to discuss the social problems that face up, in the present and future, this international community and enable it to reach an ambitious scheme to contribute, no doubt, in improving the living standards of millions of people, thanks to the elimination or the limitation of poverty, to the reduction of increases in unemployment, to narrow differences in the quality of life and to liberate man, everywhere, from the shakles of fear and anxiety for his present and future.

The importance of such Conference appears at a time in which all of us feel the gravity of the deterioration of the social condition in the world. The continuously deteriorating economic and social situation and its effects on economic and political stability of numerous underdeveloped countries most particularly in Africa and in the least developed countries was conducive to inacceptable dwindling of their living conditions, to the spread of the poverty phenomenon to the continuous increase in unemployment rates and the decrease in labour productivity in these areas in the world. This inhibited them from achieving their objectives as far as social development is concerned with the result that their sanitary and educative conditions deteriorated, acts of violence, drug addiction and diminishing the quality and levels of the living standards especially among the most precarious slices in society namely children, women, the disabled and the elders.

All these negative aspects entail conjugated world efforts to reinvigorate the economic growth and human development which are lengthily centered on man for the economic and social development constitute two indivisible parts so that it is improbable to achieve progress in one without the other or unless you achieve some progress in the other at the same time.

We hope that the Conference will discuss, to this effect, the enhancement of the efficiency and effectiveness of the UN mechanisms in the field of social and economic development, in the framework of a re-shaping of UN in order to realise equilibrium between the UN objectives of maintaining international peace and security and of the consolidation of economic and social development.

Mr. Chairman,

This Conference will provide us with the opportunity to encourage the exchange of expertise on the policies and programmes that will contribute to the formulation of an international work plan apt to realize the objectives stipulated in the General Assembly 's Resolution 47/92 namely the reduction and limitation of poverty, the expansion of the scope of employment, and the increase of social integration notably for the most disfavoured and marginal categories in society. We affrim, in this respect, the link between these thress basic matters, the expansion of the scope of productive labour is construed as one of the most important conditions in enhancing social integration.

We also affirm the importance of the discussion by this Conference, of the factors contributing to the realization and furtherance of human development. Much attention should be paid to the family and social care, for the family is the fundamental source of human resources, to the integration of women in the process of development for they constitute the other half of society, to pay more attention to instruction, education and training. This has a special importance in enhancing social development.

We equally affirm the need to give the feeble and disfavoured categories a role in the process of social development.

In this regard we point out to the need to continually encourage and facilitate the participation of all the social categories in all the phases of the elaboration and execution of social policies.

The Conference should renew the international pledge to express the common political will of all the members of the international community, to fully abide by the relative contracts and agreements most particularly the Progress and Development Declaration in the social field and by the directive principle of development policies and schemes in the near future and development strategy for the fourth UN decade of development and the Declaration on International Economic Cooperation notably to shore up economic growth and development in the developing countries.

Mr Chairman,

My Country 's delegation admits the importance of national efforts designed to encourage and further social development but countries alone cannot achieve continuos and effective social development without the existence of a convenient foreign environment that could back such national policies.

We therefore affirm the necessity to include in the Conference proceedings the elaboration of international strategy apt to ensure the shoring up of international cooperation on all levels. This urges the developed countries to review their economic policies and strategies towards developing countries in order to establish an effective international cooperation based on equality, common interest, mutual respect,non-interference in the internal affairs of the states and/or the imposition of coercive economic measures upon them and so many other political conditions put on international cooperation that certain developed countries impose on developing countries and which could effect security and confidence in international relations not to mention the stark consequences on the economic and social development in the developing countries which suffer huge losses pursuant to the imposition of limitations on their exports and imports, to the hindrance of financial and aid inflows, and to the freezing or blocking of their assets abroad.

We affirm In this respect that foreign support must necessarily be in tune with the national policies for each country is responsible for the determination of its priorities, policies and objectives in the area of social development.

The positive developments that have taken place during the last few years in the world such as the end of the Cold War, the nuclear confrontation between super powers, the reduction in military expenditures and the progress in disarmament negotiations widely opened new vistas for international cooperation in the fields of economic and social development, and for the prosperity and security all over the world.

We think we should allocate all expertise and material potentials at the disposition of the international community to improve the human conditions, to serve the objectives of social development and to combat the poverty, hunger, backwardness widely spread in various parts of the world.

Mr. Chairman,

My Country has adopted, during the last two decades, a set of political, social and economic measures that produced a concrete increase in the living standards and levels of the population, in the improvement of the socio-economic conditions for the various population categories thanks to the provision of adequate housing and services in infrastructure, education, health and social insurance .

Despite the difficulties that my Country faced during the few recent years, it spends strenuous efforts to ensure the optimal use of available resources and potentialities to improve the economic and living conditions under the cover of legislative and legal assurances that took into consideration the realization of equilibrium between the needs of the individual and the promotion of human rights in the Jamahiryan Society. This is based on the full participation of all the citizens in the social and economic decision-making process.

The imposition of coercive measures, embargo economic blockade and starvation of entire populations will neither serve the objectives of social development embodied in the international conventions and charters nor international peace and security.

Mr. Chairman,

The measures of embargo imposed upon my Country as well as other states due to unjust resolution stipulate economic sanctions for mere political reasons.

Since these reasons are political, since politics is changing so differences could arise between one state and another for whatever reason. This could affect social and economic aspects, therefore a number of economic measures could be applied such as non exportation of spare parts, freezing of assets, confiscation of funds. This in turn will install distrust and urge other countries to be apprehensive and cautious, for what happen to my own Country could happened to them particularly, to those states which continue to invest in the industrialized countries.

A certain position under certain circumstances could lead to the issue of a resolution freezing the invested assets or to their confiscation in these states.

Mr. Chairman,

We see that economic sanctions in the form of freezing of assets and so on wage a blow to the International order not the new International order but the credit and financial order all over the world, that is to say a lack of safeguards. Therefore numerous states will review their calculations, investments, economic & commercial policies in general, their import of equipments and puchase of planes in particular because they fear that, one day, the concerned states will be put on the black list and be deprived of spare parts, as it is the case with my Country where civilian airliners are grounded for lack of the indispensable spare parts we badly need and they refuse to furnish for such parts are embargoed according to UN resolutions.

We conclude from this, that we will not in the future buy their planes, factories or desalinisation plantes, but we will look for the partners we trust to invest our money, buy our plants, planes, and allow in their workers. There is a certain number of states with which we will economically deal in the future.

Mr. Chairman,

The UN which will celebrate this year the 50th anniversary would have been composed of four members had small countries not adhered to it.

It has become an International Organization thanks to the adhesion of small nations which seeked protection of their interests, but did not seek to be embargoed blockaded or sanctioned due to pressures exerted by certain member states in the manner and style used to impose sanctions on my Country under Chapter Seven of the Charter. The so-called Lockerbie issue has nothing to do with occupation of territories, world peace and or the use of force. This issue could never be treated under Chapter Seven of the Charter.

To sum up we call for the realization of real peace and security between states in order to achieve social development, to make it continuos for the good of all peoples most particularly the poor.

We therefore equally call upon poor countries to cooperate together to bring about real social development and call upon the major powers to bless this, and put and end to their political pressures on small nations.

As concerns the UN acts we call for their modification to make them in tune with the principle of equality between states as far as dealings, vote rights and so on. . . are concerned. This must be so until the will of the international community to establish peace is implemented as required even by certain industrially developed states, and until UN resolutions are applied to all member states without any distinction which is not actually the case.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.